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User blog:Leolab/User Siege Tourney, Round 39 of 50: Leolab (Lloyd) v Redkite (Markus)
Lloyd Kumar: The mercenary Great Captain Attacking Markus Thaowan: The Great Captain from Asaea Prologue, guest-authored by Drayco after much glaring "And I tell the man, I tell him- the expansion of the predatory strain of the Apis mellifera is perhaps the greatest trouble we face in the continued expansion of our culture." Austonio theorized as he sipped elegantly on a cup of tea. "Quite, quite, good sir." Nodded Drayco, his host. "And he simply looked at me as if I were consuming my own trousers." The man placed the emptied cup on the table between them, before reaching for the pot to pour another round. "You see Austonio, this is why I like you- you're a man of clarity and vision. These barbarians and sociopaths in your company, they don't understand the burden we men of science carry- is that not right, Nicholas" The host continued, addressing the cat. Austonio's pet cat wandered up to the nearby empty chair, crawling into its cushion before sitting upright, reaching for his own cup. "Of course, if these brutes could simply piece together the basics of what we were telling them, they would realize that they could minimize the threat of the mellifera if they simply used fire to burn them out." The cat paused to bring the cup of tea up to its shockingly human face. "This tea is purr-fect, Drayco. Purr-fect. Because I am a cat. Ha." "An excellent pun, Nicholas of Cage." Drayco chuckled. "If only we could force the others to realize the value and beauty of flame." Outside, Lloyd and Marcus walked down the hallway talking about Celina’s disappearance in hushed tones, until the sight within caught Marcus' eye. "Is...that Austonio?" Markus asked peering into the dark room. Confused, Markus opened the door slightly, asking the man if he was okay, only to quickly shut the door and continue walking at a quickened pace. "So wha-" Lloyd began, only to be interrupted by his colleague "He was shouting something about 'The Goddamn Bees' and looked to be drinking gunpowder, I firmly suggest we not ask and keep moving." "As good a policy as any with that one." Lloyd shrugged. Attacker Symbol = |-| Bio = An Indian noble, Lloyd is well-versed in both the theory and practice of generalship, as well as the difference between strategy and tactics. Trained from a early age in both armed combat and in leadership, he has shown a mastery of both throughout his career. After leading several successful campaigns in his native land, he tried his luck as a mercenary general, taking the name Lloyd Kumar to make himself more approachable to his western subordinates while keeping his Indian heritage. He has faced many different opponents in battle, and his losses are few and far between. Throughout his travels, he showed a knack for and specialized in Siege Warfare, using unorthodox and unfair tactics to his advantage. Rather than settling down in any one country, Lloyd continues life as a general-for-hire, and has risen to prominence as one of the premier strategic minds in war. Rather than switching sides for coin, he only takes bids prior to his involvement in a war, pledging his loyalty to one side; this, along with his fame, has mostly nullified the mistrust most soldiers have for mercenaries. He is currently writing a book about his strategies, to be published upon his death. |-| General's Armament = *Weapons: **Long Range: Composite Recurve Bow with poisoned armor-piercing arrows **Polearm: Halberd (axe head opposite a slotted dismounting hook; shaft ends in a pike). **Main-hand: Talwar **Off-hand: short axe (2 ft handle) *Armor: Riveted Plated Mail Will accept Single Combat requests if losing or confident of a win in combat; will not accept if the enemy is nearly routed. |-| Army = Attacking Siege Weaponry: *All units are armored with riveted plated mail and a barbute *3 15 inch Cannons with standard iron ball shot. **3 people per canon; secondary is a short axe and a tower shield *1 Mining Team **20 people per team; secondary is a Falcata-style shortsword and a dagger. *1 Trebuchet launching clusters of rocks, jars of Greek Fire, and pieces of dead bodies **10 people on the Trebuchet, secondary is a Kilij and kite shield *3 Ladder Teams **15 people per team, secondary is a short axe and an Aspis shield *1 Battering Ram; wood log with metal tip. Has wooden siding to protect from arrows. Thin sheets of metal are put on the siding to resist fire. **16 people on the ram; secondary weapon is an Aspis shield and a short spear *1 Belfry; metal-plated wood **25 people pushing the Belfry, secondary for 12 is a Zweihander, secondary for 12 is a Khanda, secondary for 1 (leader) is a Kilij. *1 overall commander for siege weaponry wearing Riveted Plated Mail and a Barbute **Specialized weapon: European-style Bastard Sword and Buckler **Secondary Weapon: Kilij and Buckler Supply Lines: Organized into two sections: attacking the defender's supply lines and defending my own. There is one overall commander for both. Command in the field is given on a rotating basis based on seniority. *Attack defender's: **219 Heavy Cavalry wearing full plate armor with barbute ***Specialized Weapon: Kontos Spear ***Secondary Weapon: Tabarzin ***Horse armor: Plate **218 Light Cavalry wearing Chihal'Ta Hazar Masha (Coat of 10,000 Nails) over plate bracers and greaves with barbute ***Specialized Weapon: Talwar ***Secondary Weapon: Composite Recurve Shortbow ***Horse Armor: Riveted Plated Mail *Defend my own: **218 Heavy Cavalry wearing full plate armor & Barbute ***Specialized Weapon: Kontos Spear ***Secondary Weapon: Tabarzin ***Horse armor: Plate **219 Light Cavalry wearing Chihal'Ta Hazar Masha (Coat of 10,000 Nails) under plate bracers and greaves & barbute ***Specialized Weapon: Talwar ***Secondary Weapon: Composite Recurve Shortbow ***Horse Armor: Riveted Plated Mail *Commander: **Full plate armor ***Specialized Weapon: Poleaxe ***Secondary Weapon: Mace ***Horse armor: Plate Crossbowmen: *Organized into divisions of 500 men, further divided into squads with 10 crossbowmen and 10 loaders. All members are capable crossbowmen and can fill in if others are hurt. *500 Crossbowmen wearing Riveted plated mail & Barbute: **Specialized Weapon: Arbalest Crossbow **Secondary Weapon: Axe and Buckler *500 Loaders wearing Riveted plated mail & Barbute: **Specialized Weapon: Arbalest Crossbow **Secondary Weapon: Axe and Buckler *25 Squad Commanders wearing Laminar Armor & Barbute: **Specialized Weapon: Arbalest Crossbow **Secondary Weapon: Spatha and Buckler *2 Division Commanders wearing Chihal'Ta Hazar Masha (Coat of 10,000 Nails) over Riveted Chainmail & Barbute: **Specialized Weapon: Arbalest Crossbow **Secondary Weapon: Dual 45-cm Khanda-style shortswords *1 Crossbow Commander wearing Riveted Plated Chainmail: **Specialized Weapon: Arbalest Crossbow **Secondary Weapon: Khanjar and Buckler Shock Troops *Organized into divisions of 500 men, further divided into squads with 20 men each. *2000 Shock Troops wearing full plate armor & Armet **Specialized weapon: Poleaxe (axe-head, pike point, dismounting hook) **Secondary weapon: Dual short warhammers (hammer, hook) *100 Squad Leaders wearing full plate over chainmail and an Armet **Specialized Weapon: Leucerne Hammer (hammer, pike point, hook) **Secondary weapon: Dual short axes (axehead, hook) *4 Division Leaders wearing Laminar and an Armet **Specialized Weapon: Short Spear and Aspis **Secondary Weapon: Shortsword and Aspis *1 Overall Leader wearing plate armor over Riveted plated chainmail with a Bascinet (he's a big guy) **Special: Leucerne Hammer (hammer, pike point, hook) **Secondary: warhammer and plated, spiked targe. Infantry *Organized into brigades of 2500 men, then into divisions of 500, then squads of 20. *5000 Infantrymen wearing riveted plated mail & Barbute **Specialized weapon: short spear & buckler **Secondary Weapon: axe and buckler *250 squad leaders wearing laminar over leather & Barbute **Specialized weapon: short Axe and spiked, plated Targe **Secondary weapon: Swordbreaker and spiked, plated targe *10 division leaders wearing lamellar over chainmail **Specialized weapon: Swordbreaker and buckler **Secondary Weapon: Broadsword and Buckler *2 brigade leaders wearing Chihal'Ta Hazar Masha (Coat of 10,000 Nails) over leather & Barbute **Specialized Weapon: Broadsword and Dagger **Secondary Weapon: Kopis and Dagger *1 overall leader wearing a metal breastplate over plated chainmail and Barbute **Specialized weapon: Kopis & plated targe **Secondary weapon: short spear & plated targe Reserve *Organized into squads of 20 men each *60 Reserve Members wearing Chihal'Ta Hazar Masha (Coat of 10,000 Nails) & Barbute **Specialized weapon: Kilij and Buckler **Secondary Weapon: Swordbreaker and buckler *3 squad leaders wearing Chihal'Ta Hazar Masha (Coat of 10,000 Nails) & Bascinet **Specialized weapon: Swordbreaker & Buckler **Secondary weapon: Axe and Buckler *1 Leader wearing Chihal'Ta Hazar Masha (Coat of 10,000 Nails) with Burgonet Support *536 people producing necessary materials for siege engines **Secondary weapon: Pata and buckler *2 High Marshals wearing Brigandine over Chihal'Ta Hazar Masha (Coat of 10,000 Nails) w/ halfhelm **Specialized weapon: dual Pata-style shortswords **Secondary Weapon: Dual Katars *10 General's Guard wearing full plate over leather w/ close helm **Specialized weapon: Longsword and Kite Shield **Secondary Weapon: Pata and Kite Shield *1 General's Guard Captain wearing full plate over leather w/ Kachi kabuto **Specialized weapon: Longsword and Tower Shield **Secondary Weapon: Pata and tower Shield Strategy *Intercept enemy supply lines & protect own *Harass defenders on walls with crossbowmen *Launch any enemy dead or post-interrogation POWs over in trebuchets *When dead or living are unavaliable, launch Greek Fire in and bombard walls with canon and trebuchet fire while trying to batter down doors or get ladders & belfry in, though the belfry is often used as a decoy. *Shock Troops are used in critical junctures, but are also used as diversions. *Infantry is used after entrance is made in walls, via ladders, or by the belfry. *General's Guard protects the general, High Marshals are given command during large periods of activity. *Leads from a few ranks behind the front. *Reserve is put in where needed. *Focused solely on capturing. Doesn't care if all enemy fighters are killed or none are. *Stringent anti-infiltration measures *All orders are written in code. Redundant messengers are used to ensure order reaches the officers. Defender Symbol = |-| Bio = Born and raised surrounded by military inspiration from his father, uncle and eventually brothers, Markus grew up expecting his life to be spent fighting along side his generation in infantry for Asaea, an English colony established during the crusades which stayed on in exsistance even after the crusades came to an end. The large and powerful colonly extended a reputation for keeping it's people well and through the ages a military force of organized, well trained men was bred for England, but England and Asaea distanced and eventually Asaea found itself effectivley independant. Markus grew up and joined the army with countless others, but he was noticed by the ruler whom believed Markus to be fit to lead a platoon. Markus proved in training that he was a fit leader and his rank only rose over time as he be friended the ruler and eventually after several years, Markus found himself a commander of the military forces of Asaea. |-| General's Armament = Weapons and Armour: Main: Steel Short Sword Wooden Pike with Metal Tip Wooden and Metal Bow and Arrow Mutli-layered Wood and Metal Tower Shields Armour: Chain-mail Undercoat covered by Steel Plate Armour (Equipped by all troops) Will take on single battle challenges. |-| Army = Armour: Chain-mail Undercoat covered by Steel Plate Armour (Equipped by all troops) Tactics: In the event of an enemy attack severals tactics have been established. 3/4 of bowmen are too attend wall while the remaining fraction will work with infantry. On the wall, the bowmen will use wave fire and independant fire. Wave fire involves a unifyed bombardment of Arrows all fired at once, this can be done in rounds but should enemies return fire or come too close, independant fire can be used. On the ground, swordsmen, pikemen and a fraction of bowmen will attend the main gate and await potential entrance. The pikemen will await the forces first with pikes pointing and shields up followed by the swordsmen also with shields up and swords ready, the behind the infantry bowmen will prepare to use wave fire for awaiting enemy. In the event of overwhelment, men will retreat to the inner wall and repeat the same tactic. Army: Training: Before specific roles within the military force is assigned, all men undergo extensive training lasting roughly 7 weeks. This includes extensive running and training to build fighting mentality and moral and unite the men to work together. All are also briefed on fighting tactics and trained to ensure they are capable. After 4 weeks, men are able to choose what role they seek, in the case of a overwhelment of men for a specific role, people will be transfered alphabetically. Men will then recieve training on their chosen role and the weapons associated aswell as tactics involving this. Leadership: All 3 unit sections were led by a captain. These captain's were recognisable by their white cape and impressive helmet which has metal extensions featuring a feathers and a soft nilon covering up to their nose so only their eyes are visible. All 3 captains had the weaponary of their unit, but the Pikemen and Archer captains also had swords and the Pikemen's pike had a small flag of Asaea before the metal tip. These captains would communiation with eachother Markus to control tactics. Defending: 2000 Swordsmen - Steel Short Sword, Mutli-layered Wood and Metal Tower Shield 3430 Archers - Wooden and Metal Bow and Arrow, Steel Short Sword 2000 Pikemen - Wooden Pike with Metal Tip, Mutli-layered Wood and Metal Tower Shield 12 Trebuchets installed into outer-wall with 5 Crew members per machine. Crew are also trained archers and are equipped with the same weapons as archers. X-Factors These X-Factors are created by taking averages from the X-Factor evaluation blog, rounded to the nearest number. I did not choose them. There is no bias. Victory Conditions Attacker= *Overrun castle *Force defender to surrender *Win Single Combat |-| Defender= *Force attacker to surrender *Annihilate attacker *Survive for 4 months *Win Single Combat |-|Tie= *One side meets the victory conditions but loses their general *Both sides lose their general. Notes |-| Battle = *Any siege weapons without a crew cannot be used *Area is as follows: **A square, stone fort with a tower at each corner and one in the center. It is on a hill, but has no other natural barriers. Castle is 100 m x 100 m x 125 m. Towers have a 10 m radius and are 150 m tall. The fighting is mostly close-quarters in small areas within the castle. |-|Voting = In order for a vote to count as full, it must contain an analysis of the victory or tie conditions and which - if any - the armies can meet. A paragraph or two with at least 10 relevant sentences can be substituted for a full vote. A paragraph or two with 5 relevant sentences will count as a half vote. All others will not count. A well-reasoned counterargument that is not subject to a well-reasoned rebuttal can reduce a vote by .5. |-| General's Kit = *Includes: **A telescope / looking glass for his personal use and others for the commanders **Several maps of the area **Locations of friendly supply lines **Various support personnel: a quartermaster corps, cooking corps, medical corps, and religious services Battle 0 Months, 0 Days, 10 Hours. Lloyd Kumar sat inside his tent with a glass of wine, drawing up plans for taking the fort. He sighs, and glances at the stone structure sitting on the hill in front of his tent, hoping the flag he had seen earlier was a hallucination. Once again, however, he sees the Asaean flag flying above the fort. Grimacing, he takes another sip and jots down a few notes, trying to gauge how his foe – undoubtedly Markus Thaowan – would defend. A few minutes later, he checked to see if the flag was still flying. Markus Thaowan looks out over the battlefield, trying to gauge his foe. From the looks of it, the opposing general was a mercenary. Out of those, however, this seemed to be Lloyd. Another Great Captain. From what he’d heard of the man, his greatest strategic asset is his adaptability. Having also made a few inquiries into what people say about him, Markus heard that his own supposed specialty is turning his foes’ strength against them. It was time for him to test that theory. Markus turns towards his archers and trebuchet operators. “You have two priorities,” he says, “The first is to target Lloyd’s siege engines so that he can’t use them. The second is to fire at anything that looks worth firing at. It doesn’t matter if it’s small or big; if you think it needs to be smashed by a rock, smash it. If you think it’ll look better with an arrow in it, shoot it. Any small thing will help.” Turning back to the field before him, he smiles. This is at least going to be interesting. 1 Months, 15 Days, 10 Hours. Lloyd looks up as one of his High Marshalls enters, drenched. “Good news, I hope?” he says, carefully placing his papers where they should be safe from the mud. “Yes, very.” “Have you captured a supply line or did you talk to a god and get them to make it stop raining?” “The former. The chaplains are rather put off that you asked for the latter.” “Well, talking to a god is what they claim to do. But still, good to have that supply line fully intercepted.” “One of our light cavalry seized a caravan from a different supply route. Their commander has marked the spot on the map, but we need more such interceptions to fully chart their route and claim the supplies for ourselves.” “Excellent. If we get that second route, they should run out of stones to keep flinging at our siege engines. Only good thing about this weather is that it makes digging easier.” Markus Thaowan is walking towards the mess hall with two of his captains walking beside him, reporting on the state of the siege. It seems to be going well for his side, with the rain being an unexpected boon. His foe could not set up heavy equipment effectively, and what he did set up could be easily kept down by the trebuchets. He was worried about certain reports from one of his supply lines, however, that several of their caravans hadn’t reached their destination, but with the fort besieged as it was he couldn’t spare anyone to alleviate their trouble. Sighing in resignation, he walks in to grab some food. 2 Months, 30 Days, 10 Hours. Lloyd looks outside his tent at the drying ground. Grabbing a couple apples, he walks around the camp, seeing to it that the current bounty is not making them lazy. His Siege Engine commander hurries to his side, looking grim. “Just yesterday you were ginning about the new captured supply line,” Lloyd says, tossing the man an apple, “what happened now?” “Most of the mining team is injured.” “Shit. How many?” “Ten. They were finishing up a shift and coming out when a small arrow bombardment fell on their area.” “How many dead?” “Three are dead, and the other seven are being treated as we speak.” “Damn. This’ll set us back by a lot. Three to four weeks, I’d say, depending on how fast they recover. Seem accurate?” “I’d say so.” Commander Markus Thaowan exits the fort’s food preparation room, frustrated. Rations will have to get smaller again if they were to hold out. His archers reported hitting some fairly active site in his foe’s camp, but pinning Lloyd’s men down is getting harder now that the ground’s dry and he can move more effectively. His trebuchets and archers only have enough ammunition to last another month as is, and his food supply is looking the same. Gritting his teeth, he reaches his quarters and sits down to plan. One way or another, this siege would end in a month. He just needed to figure out a way for his army to get out ahead. 3 Months, 31 Days, 15 Hours. Lloyd Kumar walks through his camp, ensuring that his men are ready for the final push. His mining teams have broken into the enemy fort, and he was not going to let that chance slip from his grasp. He looked up at the fort, trying to gauge how many soldiers were left inside those walls. He immediately ducks, narrowly avoiding an arrow. Lloyd heads back to his tent. He still has some preparations of his own to do. Markus Thaowan walks along the battlements, trying to figure out what his foe is doing. They don’t seem to be retreating, but their numbers have been slowly decreasing. Raising his spyglass, he spots a small fortification that several tents were covering from view earlier. Are those Sappers? he thought, Can’t be. They would have gotten through last month. One of his officers runs up to the battlements. “Sir! We’ve got a breach!” “Where?” “The storerooms.” “Damn. Trebuchets, use as many rocks as you can to collapse that fortification. Join the men on defense afterwards.” Markus says, running down to join his men. Lloyd nocks another arrow to his bow and fires, trying to hit behind the shields in front of him. He and his men had hit formation after formation of these, each proving tough to get through. Fortunately, one of his cannons made it through the tunnel before it was collapsed. Unfortunately, he was low on cannonballs. And gunpowder. Waving it over, he has his crossbowmen fire one last volley and fall back behind the cannon. Covering his ears, he turns away as the wall of pikemen collapses. Motioning his men forward, he moves to try and find another group to coordinate. Precious few were left, but the opposition seemed to be crumbling. Hearing a commotion, he readies an arrow. Ducking around the corner, he spots the enemy commander throwing a broken pike down near a group of soldiers from both sides. The skirmish took out everyone save Markus. Markus Thaowan drew his sword and turned, intending to seek one of the few remaining groups of pikemen he had left. As he faced the corridor, he felt a sharp pain in his cheek and heard the arrow streak by. He found his foe. As luck would have it, he was against Lloyd. Markus charged in, not wanting to let his foe have a sliver of an advantage. Reacting on instinct, Lloyd blocks the shortsword with his bow while drawing his talwar. The bow being a bow, it’s sliced nearly in half. In the brief lull, Lloyd gets his axe out and takes a defensive stance. Markus charges back in. His shield turns Lloyd’s talwar as his sword strike is redirected by his foe’s axe. They try several more times to get through each other’s defenses to no avail. The two disengage and watch for each other’s movements. Markus allows a small smile; Lloyd’s good, but his foe is far older. Markus is younger, and the age difference showed in their last exchange. It was a small edge, but it was an advantage. This time, Lloyd initiates the clash. The two were a blur, attacking, parrying, and counterattacking as fast as they were able. Eventually, Lloyd overextended. Markus lashed out with his shield, stunning Lloyd for a follow-up thrust to the chest. His foe lay on the floor, bleeding out. Stepping forward to finish the blow, he feels a sudden burst of nausea and leans on the wall until he can reorient himself. Looking down, he finds a lot more blood than he had expected. He looked up in confusion at Lloyd, who smirked, despite lying in his own blood. “Poison,” he says, with obvious effort, “The arrow I hit you with at the start was coated in it. Sorry for using such a nasty one, but it was the only one I had prepared. Plus, you punctured my lung. I think you’ve had payback.” Markus sinks to the floor, surrounded by his own blood. The two generals died. Within the mess hall, a parley was in effect. The last of Markus’s captains and Lloyd’s remaining High Marshall meet to discuss their situation. “I think we should call this a draw.” “Agreed. There are twenty soldiers left alive in total, and none of them are our generals.” “We’ll split medical and food supplies until reinforcements come. Which side doesn’t matter; whoever gets here first wins.” The two shake hands, and turn to direct their remaining soldiers to try and salvage what they can. End of Siege Statistics: *Total Time: 3 Months, 31 Days, 23 Hours, 50 Minutes *Losses: 17,475 **Lloyd: 9,991 **Markus: 7,484 Category:Blog posts